“Body of Lies” has it all… almost: an excellent director, Ridley Scott, big names on the cast list, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, as well as a gripping subject that contains a significant drop of espionage and terrorism on a hazardous Middle East background. The spots seem both interesting and dangerous, as the focal points of their depictions are the traditions and conducts of the people who live there. The action-packed continuous spin of intelligence games, political plots and volatile, almost vicious scenes of violence, are astutely combined with judicious remarks on contemporary relationships between states and cultural differences, but that can barely make up for the fact that “Body of Lies” lacks, however, a story that makes it feel distinctive.

Leonardo DiCaprio fills the fast moving shoes of Roger Ferris, a CIA operative who although respects his job, is not directly targeted by the consequences of his actions, at least during the first major part of the film. He may sound or appear to be concerned about his mission, but he is far from being in the line of fire and, thus, moviegoers remain as distant and uninvolved as he is.

As a result of this rather simple scheme, you will try to hang around good-naturedly hoping for the real story to eventually break down the door, but you will nevertheless understand sooner or later that there’s nothing more to come and that’s about it.

Ferris’ unworried boss, Ed Hoffman, impersonated by Russell Crowe, does not bat an eyelash when his subordinate yells and explains that he is worried sick about the plans that don’t work out according to their initial schemes. And this is exactly the idea the movie is supposed to hold: agents on the ground discern some things better than their superiors, who, stimulated by political matters, give orders that usually generate chaotic and out of control situations.

The movie mainly concentrates on Ferris’ assignment to hunt down a Middle Eastern terrorist leader who has been planning several dangerous attacks in Europe. However, the treacherous nature of the agent’s mission can’t possibly stand in the way of love and, therefore, Ferris falls in love with a nurse, played by Golshifteh Farahani.

Although DiCaprio’s vitality and strength spice up the clichéd plot a little bit, his character has no other choice than moving back and forth in an attempt to produce drama that never really comes to surface.

The best moment of the film is probably the one in which several SUVs circle Ferris in the middle of the desert, provoking an impenetrable cloud of sand, while the agent is abducted and dragged into one of the vehicles. Hoffman feels puzzled as he watches the whole scene via satellite and, as each SUV drives away in a different direction, he has no idea which car to track in order to find Ferris.

From lust to dust… this is the track “Body of Lies” involuntarily follows. Whatever it aims to be, it merely manages to obtain the audience’s indifference.